Does Nissan's Quick Charger Strategy make any sense?

[TomHuffman]

Nissan is partnering with the Green Parking Council to deploy a large number of CHAdeMO DC quick chargers. Read the article at

http://www.plugincars.com/nissan-and-green-parking-council-teaming-deploy-fast-charging-stations-129026.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

What struck me in the article was this

"The target markets include Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, New York City, Washington DC, Chicago, Boston, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Seattle-Tacoma, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Atlanta, and Houston. These are top ten cities for LEAF sales. Locations in other areas will be considered."

It seems to me that the main value of quick charging stations lies in their ability to make long trips a viable option. To achieve that goal quick chargers need to be located strategically along the nation's Interstate highway system. Placing quick chargers only in urban areas where there is high Leaf ownership accomplishes what, exactly? If I am driving the car in my own community, I don't need a quick charger. The overwhelming majority of local trips will fall within the Leaf's 73 miles range. What good is it to have quick chargers in Washington DC and New York if there is still no way to drive from DC to New York?? You also need quick chargers in Baltimore, Wilmington, and Philadelphia.

What we need to make this a viable technology is for Nissan to install CHAdeMO DC quick chargers at all of their dealerships, which are spread relatively evenly throughout the entire country. Do that--along with a battery with somewhat longer range--and you have a viable means of cross-country transportation on electricity alone.

 

[cwerdna]

What we need to make this a viable technology is for Nissan to install CHAdeMO DC quick chargers at all of their dealerships, which are spread relatively evenly throughout the entire country. Do that--along with a battery with somewhat longer range--and you have a viable means of cross-country transportation on electricity alone.

You're obviously new here. From the surface, it sounds like a good idea but Nissan dealers are very YMMV in terms of policies, accessibility (in terms of hours and whether the spot is blocked off when the dealer's closed), ease of use, etc. for charging, either for L2 and DC FC. You can read a multitude of reports that all over the map. Some do NOT welcome those who didn't buy/lease from them.

I reported my singular use of my CHAdeMO port at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=11426&p=327440&#p327440" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=11426&p=329172&#p329172" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. So far, the port's been a waste of $ for me.

Today, I saw some pics on Facebook showing that the above dealer's DC FC now is part of the Chargepoint network and will remain free for now, but it could begin charging a fee. See https://www.facebook.com/groups/BayLeafs/permalink/604308489626816/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, if you're curious.

Remember, due to state franchise laws, automakers can't own car dealers in the US.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=332063#p332063" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; says

Information provided by Nissan at Plugin 2013 indicates average cost for hardware and installation at dealers for the DC FC is $49K.

Best strategy for now on demand charges is to detune units to 20 or 25kW....

Cost of electricity and demand chargers (when you draw above a certain amount with in certain time window (15 minutes is standard, I believe) can be costly for something that doesn't bring in really any revenue for the dealer.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

NYC is on that list, but we haven't heard of any being installed recently, any new news NY?

I can tell you that the QCs that we just discovered in the last couple weeks in eastern MA make a huge difference. (I say discovered because some of them have been there for over a month, dealers installed them, and then . . . Nothing! No announcements by them or Nissan. We had to find out about them on our own, by chance sitings and phone calls. Not a single dealer knew about PlugShare.)

Sure, we can't use QC from Boston to NYC yet, but having them here doubles our local range, cutting hours off of trips or letting us live without the ICE. We had zero QC before this. You have to start somewhere. Some of them are even 24/7.

Still, only about half of MA dealers signed up for them. It could be better. We're looking forward to the day when other entities besides dealers install them, like on the west coast.

 

[KillaWhat]

Does Nissan's Quick Charger Strategy make any sense?

No, it does not.
The key failing is in the word "strategy".
You place L2's in places you are going to anyway and plan to stay at least an hour (restaurants, malls, and you place L3's along highways and at quick marts, 7-11's, WaWa's and places where you want to spend 15 minutes and grab a hot dog or a soda.
We have 1 L3, placed really well on a highway, and around here they put L2's in gas stations.
I want to sit in an isolated gas station for 3 hours, right?

After that, somebody buy these people a MAP!

 

[davidcary]

The reality is that with QCs and a Leaf, long trips are really a chore. Do the math and time predictions on highway runs - it isn't pretty or viable for most people.

In a large city, QCs seem like a good idea for the occasional extra trip in cold weather. Or a fail safe for a charging failure.

Nissan can require dealerships to have QCs and make them available for everyone 24/7 despite not owning them. The demand charges are unlikely present everywhere and are relatively minimal compared to other charges. At 30KW, it would be $150 a month in my area for residential demand. A little demand management could fix that. Nissan could pay for that if it was an issue. Nissan could give a $3000 payment annually for demand+electricity if it was necessary. If they really wanted.....

Our local L2s are at a mall, a hospital, several museums, downtown parking (near restaurants) - someone was actually thinking.... When they put an L2 at an interstate reststop 40 miles out of the city - they weren't thinking. Although, I am planning a trip where I would actually use that - it just isn't ideal.

We also have a McDonald's group that is putting them in all renovated restaurants. This isn't terrible since I now have 1 1/2 mile from home and 2 others 5 miles from home in different directions - good if I was to get in trouble.